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All aiglits to Ail Elen! Equality of White Men! 

SPEECH OF HON. AARON H. CRA&IN, 

IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, JANUARY 30, 18G8, ';: 
ON THE KECONSTKUCTION AGT,_,. 



Published by the Union Republican Conrir esslonal ExecntiBO Committee. 



Mr. CRAGIN. Mr. President, when the ques- 
tion of the life or death of the Republic was 
presented to the loyal people of this land they 
bravely and patriotically resolved to accept war 
and all its direful consequences rather than 
that the Union should perish. 

After four years of toil and sacrifice of life 
and treasure, such as no other nation ever suf- 
fered, victory perclied upon the banners of the 
Union army, and a wicked and causeless rebel- 
lion was put down; and the question now is, 
whether the fruits of victory shall be lost, and 
those who did their utmost to destroy the 
Union and the hopes of the world in free gov- 
evrnment, shall dictate the terms of recon- 
struction and come back into full fellowship, 
filled with rebel hate and arrogance, and with 
increased political power, or whether those who 
saved the Union shall rebuild it upon founda- 
tions cemented with the eternal principles of 
truth, justice, and equality. The former ques- 
tion is involved in, and must result from, the 
final success of the President's "policy" and 
the plan of the Democratic party; the latter 
will surely follow the complete triumph of the 
congressional and Republican plan of recon- 
struction. 

At the btginning of the rebellion the rebels 
destroyed the loyal State governments in eleven 
States and set up new governments hostile to 
the United States. They absolved their officers 
and citizens from their oaths of allegiance to 
the United States, and compelled them to take 
Lew oaths of allegiance to the Southern con- 
federacy as a new and independent nation. 
When the rebellion was suppressed and con- 
quered traitors were compelled to lay down 
their arms, and the national authority became 
reasserted over the territory formerly occupied 
by the insurgents, those hostile State govern- 
ments disappeared and do State organi.Kations 



remained. The rebels knew, and all the world 
knew, that they had been engaged in a most 
nefarious business, a most wicked and atro- 
cious crime, for which they deserved to die, 
and they were ready to cry out, "What can we 
do to be saved?" Such was the condition 
when Mr. Johnson was made President by the 
cruel assassination of Mr. Lincoln. 

Now, by the express language of the Consti- 
tution, tlic President is authorized to call au 
extra session of Congress on "extraordinary 
occasions." What occasion could be more 
"extrao'-dinary" than the sudden and shock- 
ing death of a dearly-beloved President and 
the supprcssioa of a gigantic and bloody rebel- 
lion 1 But the President, overlooking this new 
and unparalleled era in our history, wheu so 
much of the unfinished work of his predecessor 
lay beforehim, purposely neglected to call such 
session of Congress, and took the work of re- 
construction into his own unaided hands. Was 
this more boldness and self-reliance or was it 
assumption ? Whatever name you may give 
it, the sequel has proved it to be a grave and 
almost irreparable error. 

The President's business is to execute, not 
to make laws. In undertaking, therefore, this 
work, he undoubtedly usurped the legislative 
functions of Congress, and invaded the pre- 
rogative of a coordinate branch of the Govern- 
ment. He appointed provisional Governors 
without authority of law, and defined their 
duties. He prescribed the qualifications of 
voters, and declared who should not vote in the 
rebel States. He authorized the calling of con- 
ventions, and dictated the provisions of future 
constitutions. He established military rule a 
hundred times more despotic than that which 
now exists in those States. None but rebels 
were elected to these conventions or permitted 
to fiU olTices, and he was, in consequence of this 



The ballot wns given to the black man — first 
because he was a citizen and a freemin, and 
as incident to and an inhering right of eitizen- 
ehip; but Epecially that he might have a 
weapon for self-protection and with which to 
insure the adoption of loyal democratic State 
governments. It was given for his own pro- 
tection and the protection of those principles 
of union founded "in the just consent of the 
governed," which the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence declares to be the original source of 
all government. 

We gave him no other protcstiou than this, 
and less we could not do; for how could we 
legislate for the superstructure of a government 
before we had laid its foundations upon the 
"just consent of the governed." We must 
either submit to rebel supremacy or adopt this 
policy to insure "loyal supremacy." Congress 
chose the latter course, and every day's ex- 
perience is verifying the wisdom of this policy. 
But what, sir, are the facts in relation to 
"negro supremacy" in the South? In only 
two States, South Carolina and Mississippi, 
does the colored population constitute a ma- 
jority of the people. The recristration of vo- 
ters under the reconstruction acts shows a ma- 
jority of white voters in Qve of the disorganized 
States, namely, Virginia, North Carolina, 
Georgia, Arkansas, and Texas, and in the five 
other States the colored voters are a majority. 
This, except in South Carolina and Mississip- 
pi, results from the fact that many of the 
white men refused or neglected to register 
themselves as voters. Is Congress to blame 
for this ? If a man sleeps upon his rights, 
shall he complain if he loses them? If all 
the white men entitled to vote under the acts 
of Congress had registered, the colored men 
would have had a majority only in the two 
States before named. 

The following official figures show the num- 
ber of each class registered in each State and 
the vote cast for and against conventions. 

White, colored. For. Agiilnst. 

Virginia IKi.OdO 101,000 107,S12 r>l,,ss7 

North (Carolina 10:t,n(iO 71.057 0H.2r,(i 32,(i61 

r'Oiith fai-ollna •ir,,75l 7!),5S5 07.7:i'j 2.22(! 

(Ifiorirla •)5.214 93,458 ]02.2-:{ 4.127 

MIs'Tsslppi 48,920 8«,»25 ll'.l.TS') 0,277 

I oiilslana 44,7.<2 82,007 7.").0,-s:i 4,C(J« 

Florl'la 11,100 15,S57 14.3S7 lS9 

T.r:is m,rm 47,430 Notvoted. 

ArKaiisas (total) .... 0i..8(« — 27,576 IS,!^? 

Alabama ,74,450 90,3-10 70,238 5,028 

It is well known that a majority of regis- 
tered voters in Arlcansas are white, but the 
exact number of each is not known here. 

Let us look at some of those SUtes in the 
litrht of these figures. The actual white popu- 
lation of Virginia is nearly doable that of the 
colored, and they have twelve thou'^and major- 
ity of the registered voters, notwithstanding 
tens of thousands of white men, from bitter- 
ness of pride, refused or neglected to regis- 



ter. With all this advantage, the convention 
was actually carried by forty-flve thousand 
four hundred and fifty-five majority of those 
voting. The truth is that large numbers of 
white men voted for the convention. Is there 
any "negro supremacy" in this? Not a bit of 
it. I hope, sir, a million of white men in 
Virginia do not acknowledge themselves 
whipped by half that number of black men. 
At the beginning of the rebellion they claimed 
that one Virginian could whip and put to 
fiight five Yankees, and now one poor despised 
colored man can whip two of these proud 
knights. This is the pitiable and flimsy argu- 
ment of the Senator from Wisconsin and of 
the leaders of the Democratic party. IF this 
be true, how art thou fallen, oh, Virginia! 

Look at North Carolina. She has over thirty- 
one thousand majority of registered white 
voters, and yet the convention was carried 
there by over sixty thousand majority. There 
were twenty-two thousand more votes cast for 
a convention than there are colored resistered 
voters. Here, too, is "negro supremacy," one 
man, who the Senator from Wisconsin says is 
not fit to vote, putting three white men to 
flight ! O nonsense, most humiliating ! 

Look at Georgia. The number of registered 
white voters there is two thousand more than 
the colored, and yet the convention was car- 
ried in that State by over ninety-eight thousand 
majority. About thirty-five thousand white men 
voted for the convention, or more than one third 
of the whole number of registered white voters. 
Here, again, is "negro supremacy!" I ask the 
Senator from Wisconsin to look at it. He 
claims that the negro is not fit to vote, and yet 
we find a less number of them in Virginia, 
North Carolina, and Georgia beating a greater 
number of white men, with their acknowledged 
superiority, at the polls. Sir, a white man ■ 
ought to be ashamed of this argument. If it 
proves anything it proves too much for our 
opponents. It proves that the colored man is 
qualified to vote. 

I commend to the Senator from Wisconsin 
^ and all others who are so terrified about 
"negro supremacy" an extract from a recent 
speech of cx-Governor Brown, of Georgia. 
Governor Brown was one of the first Southern 
Governors who saw the hopelessness of the 
rebellion and the tyranny of Jefi". Davis; and 
he sees now the false and humiliating pre- 
tences by which reconstruction is sought to be 
delayed. He says : 

The pooplf" North havo iicen t^ild latolythat the 
acts of (,'oii cress establisli nc^rro sui)vcin:\!'y ami ■ 
white suborcliniitlon in tUc houth. 'llu! cbarge i»" 
false. Tf wa^ I be pcrvfrsc obsl iiiacy of the whit'- race'- 
roI'MsliiK U) r.ake control tl>:it atmvc llic ncKroi'S powpr^/ 
In the convoiiMon. Tlu'i-r is liftciMi tlioiis;uiil w|,|tn 
nviloi-llv In Oeorffla. AVIth Ibis ni;iiority ami tlic 
boatted' stipi'i-Un-Uy of Ihc race In iiitoUcet, cilin-.i. 



tlon, experience, and wealth, It Is a libol on the 
whlie men to say that negroes can nilc iiUfllert anil 
capital and control nuniliers^ crerywlirn'. The 
charge that General I'oiv f;<TryM\;iiiilcrci| tlie State 
to give negroes power is false, lie ;iil()pleil the dis- 
tricts as left by the Johnson convention wlthont al- 
teration. With absolnte power to set aside everv 
ofticer in Georgia and 111 I their places with test-oath 
men, not one in fifty had been disturbed, and not one 
who did not obstruct reconstnudion. Not a single 
citizen of Georgia has been iricd by mditary cum- 
mlsslon, when Pope ha<l power to set aside the 
courts to try every officer by commission. 

It is a well-knowa fact that after the passage 
of the reconstruction acts the rebels expected 
to control the negro vote, and went to work for 
that purpose. The colored people were told 
that the rebels had always been their friends, 
and that they were then their best friends. 
They called them fellow-citizens, and admitted 
that they had been too long deprived of their 
rights. 

They failed to control the colored vote, and 
here is the rub. The negro was too intelligent, 
loved liberty too well, to be used by those who 
for years held him in cruel bondage, and who 
only released their grasp when they were com- 
pelled by superior force. The instinct of that 
moral nature bestowed upon all men, and which 
is the linger of God, guiding the human heart, 
pointed them in the way of sure deliverance. 

But, sir, I say agan, here is the rub ! If 
they had voted as the rebels wished to have 
them, we should never have heard a word about 
''negro supremacy." And the Senator frota 
Wisconsin would have hailed them to-day as 
" friends " and " fellow-citizens." 

I have some testimony from Southern men 
and the Southern press which shows that some 
men there do not fear " negro supremacy." 

Ex-Governor Foote, in a letter to Hon. A. 
O. P. Nicholson, of Tennessee, writes as fol- 
lows: 

We must, in order to be free ourselves, agree never 
hereafter to interfere with the freedom of others. 
We must, in order to assure our own return to 
liberty and happiness, not only recognize tlie colored 
citizens of the South as now free, but wf mnst allow 
them the same means of preserving their freedom 
that we ourselves desire to possess. They must be 
freemen i a fact as well as In name. We must con- 
sent to their being invested with the elective fran- 
chise. 

General Beauregard, in a letter to the New 
Orleans Times, dated March 23, 18G7, says : 

With regard to the suffrage of the freedmen, how- 
ever objectionable it may be at present. It is an ele- 
ment of strength for the future. If properly handled 
and directed, we shall defeat our a versarles with 
their own weapons. The negro Is Southern born; 
with a little educatioa and some property qualifica- 
tions he can be made to take sufficient interest In 
the affairs and prospe.ity of the South to insure an 
Inteliigeut vote on his part. 

General Buckner is reported as follows: 

On the rjuestion of negro suffr.Tge, the general said 
the South must cheerailly accept Hand use the ne- 
groes at tho polls, teaching them that their Interests 
are identical with those of the whites. 

Wade Hampton, in a letter to D, W> Ray 
and others, dated August 7, 1867, says : 

On a late public occasion, when many of yon were 
present, I expressed mv perfect wiUingniss to see 
impartial suffrage established at the South, and I 
believe that this opinion is entertained not only by 



a large majority of the Intelligent and reflecting 
whites, but also by the same class iimong the blacks. 

We have recognized the freedom of the blacks, and 
liave placed this fact beyond all probability of doubt, 
denial, or recall Tjct us recognize In tlie same frank 
manner and a? fully their political rights also. For 
myself, I "onfess tiiat I am willing to sei' a constitu- 
tion adopted by our State coutVrring tbi' elective 
tVanclilse on the negro on precisely tlic same terms 
as It is to be exercised by tiie while man, guarding 
against tiie al)Uso of this privilege by establlslilng a 
slight educational and property (lualllicatloa for all 
classes. 

The New Orleans Picayime says : 

We have urged onr people to no longer Indulge In 
any false sriueamlshness about accepting the negro 
as with themselves, a voter, and to Indulge In no 
hesitancy as to Ills competency and qnalHieations. 
It is ridiculci\is for any one to pretend tlial lie Is low- 
ered or disgraced liy going to tile polls with a negro 
when lie crowds at the general delivery with him to 
get a letter at the post ollice. 

The Daily News, of New York, an ultra Demo- 
cratic paper, says : 

The right to vote belongs to each male citizen of 
twenty-one years of age. It Is his by birth; and he, 
by operation oflaw, becomesa citizen of the Uuiied 
States, .and entitled to all rlglits, prlvilegeo. and im- 
munities through the relation of his native State to 
the National Union. The elective franchise is his 
inherent right; the exercise alone Is Bxibject to State 
regnlatinn. IIi>refol'ore nothing stood between the 
blacks and full clti/.eiiship but tlieir condition of in- 
voluntary serviliele; tlial iiupedi mentis gone through 
the actual oiieralbm of the war, and tho liberated 
black stands himseH'a citizen in his own proper per- 
son. Then, if the abstract right to vote iniiercs In 
every citizen, why not in tiie native black man 'i 
What rule of law denies him that right? Is it not 
his absolute personal right, now that he Is lib- 
erated. 

The Boston Post, alluding to Judge Reagan's 

letter to Governor Throckmorton, urging that 

suffrage be given to the negroes on the same 

terms as it is given to the whites, says: 

Tills is wise, just, politic. Impartial suffrage we 
have always advocated. The ftlassachuseits system 
we tliink a good one; and If every State wouldauopt 
it the result would prove its great security to the 
peace, and prosperiiiy of the country. 

The Senator from Wisconsin may say this 
is substantially his amendment. I am not sure 
that the Senator intends to vote for his own 
amendment. I presume he would not vote for 
the bill if his amendment could be adopted. 
He simply wants to make an issue. But grant- 
ing that Congress has the right to pass his 
amendment into law, and he concedes the 
whole power; if we have the right to say that 
negroes who have served in the Union army, 
or who can read and write, and own a little 
property, can vote in these States, then we can 
say that all may vote. It is only a question of 
policy how far we will go, when the power is 
conceded. 

I am for suffrage on the broad-gauge princi- 
ple. I do not believe in property qualifications 
or any other qualifications except what God 
has given to every sane, honest male citizen. 
I will not consent to any disqualification ex- 
cept it be the commission of crime. I regard 
the ballot as a great educator, and I am foi 
manhood suffrage. The constittition of New 
Hampshire lately contained a provision re- 
quiring that every member of the House of 
Representatives should have "an estate of the 
value of £100, one half of which to be free 



hold." The other half, or .?'250, might be per- 
sonal property. In 1S50 this provision was 
strickeu out, though it was a dead letter long 
before. In tlie convention of that year was a 
farmer from the county of Grafton, where I 
reside, and this question beini^ under discus- 
sion, he said: 

Uniler this requtroment. a man to be eligible to a 
seat In 'lie House imist own i}tJW, ami one lialf may 
In^ personal properly lie may hare a iaekass lie 
values at $i")0, ami iii250 in realehlate. He is then 
elij-'lMe an. I takes his seat. The jaekasc is takea 
tiiiTk ancl illes— the owner is then niaOe ineligible. 
Now, saiil he, I want to know who represents the 
town— the man or the Jackass? 

The Senator from Wisconsin pretends to be 
in favor of reconstruction on this basis. I am 
not. Suppose the man who owns a freehold 
worth 8250 linds himself deprived of the right 
to vote because his house was burned down 
and left him worth less than $250, I would 
like to inquire whether the man or the house 
votes? Then, by the Senator's amendment, 
if a man's wife owns S2.50, in freehold the man 
may vote. There may be philosophy in this, 
but I would suggest that he go for female suf- 
frage in that case. 

Negro suffrage is no new thing at the South. 
It is a well-known fact that free negroes voted 
in all the States at the time of the adoption of 
the Constitution, with the exception of South 
Carolina, Delaware, and possibly Georgia. I 
assert here to-day that free negroes voted for 
the Constitution in 17S9 in Massachnsetts, New 
Hatnpshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
Virginia, and North Carolina. I assert also, 
that they voted for General Washington as first 
President of the United States in the same 
States. There is reason to believe that they 
voted in all the original "thirteen" States at 
the time of the adoption of the Declaration of 
Independence. They continued to vote in Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee as late as 
1830. It is an undisputed fact that some of 
the ablest men in Congress were elected by 
negro votes. Cave Johnson, once Postmaster 
General, was elected to Congress for the first 
time from Tennessee by the votes of free ne- 
groes, as he himself declared. I once heard 
John Bell, when a member of the Senate from 
Tennessee, say that he was once elected a 
member of the other House of Congress by free 
negro votes. I have heard it stated that Willie 
P. Mangum, of North Carolina, was once 
elected in the same way, but of this fact I am 
not sure. In Virginia free negroes voted side 
by side with white men until 1830. I could 
give much evidence upon this point, but my 
time will not allow it. They arc all free now, 
and for their own protection and the salvation 
of the Union we say they may vote. We say 
they may vote because they arc loyal to their 



country ; because they are freemen and native- 
horn citizens. 
' But the Senator from Wisconsin says they 
are "ignorant and half-civilized Africans," 
and but a few generations removed from "canni- 
bals," and to allow them to vote would degrade 
the ballot. Ignorance is not the worst dis- 
qualification; disloyalty and treason are more 
dangerous. But who made them ignorant? 
The very men with whom the Senator now co- 
operates. They were bound in cruel bonds and 
denied the means of education. To accuse 
them now is to add insult to injury. 

They are learning fast, and the time is not 
far distant when they will compare favorably 
with, if they do not outstrip, the mass of white 
people South in point of intelligence, as I be. 
lieve they do now in moral worth. 

General Swayne, in his report to General 

Howard, Commissioner of the Freedmen' 

Bureau, says: 

A aistinsnished officer of the third military dis- 
trict (ieciares tliat the marvellous progress mu'ie by 
the frccil people in educiitiou and knowledge linds no 
parallel lu history. 

He adds: 

If continued, and the masses of the white people 
exhiliit the same indisposition to be educated th:tt 
tiie> now do, five years will have transferred intelli- 
gence and education, so far as the masses are con- 
cerned, to the colored people i.f tha district. 

General Howard hinaself says: 

As a people thr-y are making i-apid progress in ed- 
ucation, in mechanic arts, and all branches of in- 
dustry whicli conduce to tli^ir comfort and resxtecta- 
biliiy. 

The assistant commissioner for Georgia 
says : 

Their anxiety to learn Is unabated, and every 
available means which may aid them in the pursuit 
of knowledge is eagerly resorted to. Laborers on 
plantations are learning from each other, wliile in 
the cities parents are lieintr taugh'. l)y theirehildren; 
and so tens of thousands who do uotenjoy the b nc- 
fits of regular scliooling are bting educated lu ele- 
mentary branches. 

General Robinson, in North Carolina, says : 

Gratifying testimony is offered concerning the 
fidelity and general disposition of the freed oeople. 
The assistant commissionerdoubts if there ever was 
a community suddmily transferred from a condition 
of slavery to one of freedom more industrious, sober, 
and law-abiding than are the colored ptople of Xortli 
Carolina. 

General Scott, in South Carolina, says : 

Enfranchisement has given birth to a liealthful 
sentiment. Laborers are more ambitious in the Held 
and workshojis, as well as at the night school 

And yet the Senator from Wisconsin calls 
these people "half-civilized Africans;" but if 
they keep on they may become civilized, even 
in the estimation of the Senator. I am tempted 
to compare the language of General Jackson, 
addressed to the colored troops at New Or- 
leans, with thatof the Senator from Wisconsin. 
Addressing theni after that glorious battle, he 
said : 

Fellovv-cltizcns and soldiers: I invited you to jhare 
In the perils and to. divide ihc glory of"your v.hite 
countrymen. 1 expected much from you, for I was 



not nulnfonned of those qualities wlilch must render 
you so fonuidable to an invading 'oe. I Icnew that 
you oould ciulure huncfcr and tliii'j.t and all tlic hard- 
sliips of war. I knew tlmt you loved llie liiBil of 
your nativity, and tliat, like" ourselves, y. u liad to 
defend all tliat Is most dear to man; but you ^uipass 
my liones. I have found in you, united to tiiosc^ 
qualities, tliat noble enthusiasm whlcli impels to 
great deeds. 
Soldiers: The President of the United State-) shall 

be informed of youreouduct on the prtsiiu ( asion, 

and the voiee o'ftlie representatives oflh:- AuuM-'eau 
nation sliall an])Iaud your valor, a^ yuur General 
now praises your ardor. 

This language founds a little different to me 
from that of the Senator from Wisconsin. I 
will not, however, presume to say that General 
Jackson was much of a Democrat, as compared 
with the Senator. He did very well for those 
old-fashioned times; but Democracy has made 
wonderful progress since his day. Democracy 
was then a generous sentiment, embracing all 
the people in one common brotherhood of 
justice, humanity, and equal rights. The 
Democratic party long ago drifted away from 
its old landmarks, and has now become the 
advocate and apologist for slavery and aris- 
tocracy. 

One thousand colored soldiers aided General 
Jackson in that trying hour, and he sounded 
their praises and told thenj that the "repre- 
sentatives of the American nation would ap- 
plaud their valor." More than three hundred 
ihousand aided General Grant in a more trying 
hour, when the life of the nation and liberty 
itself was in imminent danger, and the Senator 
from Wisconsin has no voice with which to 
applaud their valor. But, sir, the American 
people have applauded their valor; and, with 
the blessing of God, will protect and defend 
them. They exhibited "that noble enthusiasm 
which impels to great deeds," but the Senator 
sees it not. He only sees ten million white 
men crushed by four million degraded, igno- 
rant, "half-ci^'ilized Africans." • 

I see these men taking their stand upon the 
field of battle, and going down before rebel 
bullets into a common grave with their white 
fellow-soldiers of the Union army. I see them 
on the plantations and around the rebel prison 
pens, where brutal murder and cruel starvation 
carried off fifty thousand of our brave men, 
the only ministering angels of mercy and sym- 
pathy. I see them, when our brave and starv- 
ing men escaped from Andersonville, conceal- 
ing them by day, and with ample lood piloting 
them by night toward the Union lines. God 
only knows how much these people did for our 
cause, and how great a debt we owe them. 
Yet the Senator from Wisconsin calls them 
rebels. Sir, I pity a heart that canisot appre- 
ciate a noble action, and whose sympathies go 
out only for the proud and wicked traitors. 
He pleads for pardon and forgiveness for the 
rebels, saying " they have been punished 
enough." 1 am not panting for punishment 



or revenge — none at all. But before high 
Heaven I dare not forgive the red-handed rebel, 
unless at the same time I am just to the colored 
man and give him the means of eelf-det'ence. 
Tbe nation owes him a vast debt of gratitude, 
and God would never prosper the Republic if 
we suffered this despised race to be again recast 
into slavery. 

Tue Seumor from Wisconsin talks about a 
"war of races," and says that the action of 
Congress is calculated to produce it. It is the 
course of the Seuator and his party that is cal- 
culated to produce such a result, and nothing 
else will do it. The colored men, under all 
circumstances, are peaceable, industrious, and 
law-abiding, auq|tthere will be no "war of 
races" unlesswhitc rebels drive them to des- 
peration by cruelty and rank injustice long 
continued. They are a patient people, and 
will bear persecution, outrage, and even death 
before they will res®rt to violent measures. 
If there is ever such a war it will be provoked 
and commenced by the white rebels and en- 
tered upon by the colored men in self-defence, 
and only when they can no longer endure the 
oppression and injustice heaped upon them. 
If such shall ever be the case, I have no doubt 
God will defend the right. But I have no 
fears of such a calamity, if we do our duty and 
secure and protect the rights of all. 

Much is said here and elsewhere about white 
men being disfranchised by the reconstruction 
acts, and unscrupulous partisans seek to exag- 
gerate the number. I am satisfied that the 
Senator from Indiana placed the number high 
enough when he estimated it at fifty thousand 
in the ten States. 

And here I do not forget that yesterday the 
Senator from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Buckalew), 
for whose judgment and fairness I have great 
respect, told us that the number of men dis- 
franchised under the reconstruction acts was 
three hitndred thousand. Never was a greater 
mistake made. Sir, let us look for one mo- 
ment at the States of Virginia aud North Car- 
olina. The registered white vote in Virginia 
is 116,982. The total vote given for President 
in Virginia proper, as it now is, in 1860, was 
115.257, less than the present registered white 
vote. In North Carolina the registered white 
vote is 103,060, and the total vote for President 
in 1860 was96,230. The total vote in lS60,lu these 
States, for President of the United States, not 
including South Carolina, where the electors 
were chosen by the Legislature, was 659,113. 
The Seuator from Pennsylvania would have us 
believe that one-half or nearly one-half of 
these voters are disfranchised under the recon- 
struction acts. The reconstruction acts dis- 
franchise only those who took an official oath 



tr> support the Constitution of the United 
Staits and afterward entcaged in the rebellion. 
The main classes included in that are the for- 
mer members of Congress; members of the 
Legislatures in those States prior to ISGO; 
otficers of the armj' and nav}' who deserted 
the Hag of the Union and went over to the 
rebels; deputy postmasters, judicial officers, 
and a few others in those States. It is im- 
jMJssilile to ascertain tlie exact number; but I 
fully believe fifiy thousand is a high estimate 
— five thousand on an average in each State. 
There is a much larger number in the State of 
Virginia undoubtedly; but, on an average, I 
believe five thousand to be a large estimate 
for each State. 

I can tell the Senate that the Deiiocratic 
party in New Ilampshire, with John G. Sin- 
clair as a leader, tried to disfranchise a greater 
number of white men in that State— all the 
Union soldiers absent from the State and fight- 
ing for their country. We asli that only a few 
of the leaders, who caused the war and fought 
against their country, shall, for a brief time, 
take " back seats." 

The design of Congress was to exclude the 
leading rebels and no others. General terms 
■were used. This was thought to be a better 
way than to go into a long enumeration of in- 
dividuals or classes. Of course it included 
;oine who were not actual leaders in the rebel- 
lion, but it did include only those who had 
added treason to perjury. I should have been 
satisfied if a much less number had been dis- 
franchised, though many more deserved it. 
There was good reason why those who had 
taken a solemn oath to support the Constitu- 
tion and then sought to destroy it by armed 
rebellion should not take part in reconstruct- 
ing the fabric they had partially destroyed. 
The time will soon come, I trust, when this 
disability can safely be removed, and when all 
will rejoice in a restored Government and the 
return of national prosperity. 

The work thus far has been well done, in 

spite of the opposition of the President and 

the Democratic party, who have done all m 

their power, directly or indirectly, to defeat 

't. The rebel spirit was at once curbed in the 

presence of military power, and the wail over 

unpunished barbarities and murder that filled 

this chamber one year ago has almost entirely 

ceased. We do not hear of one murder now 

where we heard of hundreds then. 

General Howard, in his report, says : 
The jrcnurul effect of Die rcconslriictlou acts of 
Conjrross will more fully ajipear from the Slate re- 
ports hcr.lii enihoillc.l. 'I'liere Is almiulant eviilencc 
tint till :,(; mcriMins li:iTi' <|i,,.,kcil ilic deliaiit spirit 
of dlf^lijyal mc:n, ralscMi the liopcs of free<lmen, and 
gieatly prouioleil good order and peace. 

General Schofleld, in his report to the Com- 
missioner, Bays : 



Since the passajje of the laws referred to regula- 
ting the rea(Illlis:^illn Into the Union of the rebel 
t>tates, a favorahlc clianfje In the condition of tlie 
free<hiien has oi-oirri'd apparently throughout the 
whole state of Vir^'lnia. Complaints of private out- 
rages and the liijusiice of civil tribunals, the assist- 
ant comniisslonir remarks, havoheenin number at 
least lil'ty per rent, less than during the months pre- 
ceillng the assembling of (Jongrcss 

General Swayne. in common with other assistant 
commissioners, notes the improvement in the treat- 
ment of frcedmen consequent upon the recent action 
ol C'onjiress. 

Much more interesting matter might be 
given from the report of General Howard, 
showing the improved condition of the frced- 
men and their industrious and law-abiding 
conduct, and also their shameful and outrage- 
ous treatment in some States, especially in 
Texas and Kentucky; but enough has been 
given for my purpose. 

What will be the consequences if the recon- 
struction measures of Congress should fail, 
and the rebels and their sympathizers gain the 
control of the Government? In such a result 
I foresee repudiation, general ruin, a probable 
war of races, engendered by an attempt to re- 
duce four million people to slavery, or a serf- 
dom and peonage worse than slavery, and the 
establishment of rebel rule, with a large in- 
crease of their political power. During the 
war the Copperhead party of the North was the 
north wing of the rebel army. Now the rebels 
are the south wing of the Democratic party. 
The Pendleton Demociacy of the North and 
the Conservative squad are cooperating with 
the Davis Democracy of the South to defeat 
reconstruction. Their positions and principles 
are identical. The northern wing declared the 
war a failure in 1864, and they wish now to 
make it so by taking away the fruits of victory 
and restoring the rebel States on the action of 
traitors, and giving them more power in Con- 
gress and the nation than they had the day 
they rebelled. I charge the Democratic party 
with designing to absolve the rebels from all 
guilt of treason. I charge the same party with 
a determined purpose to defeat reconstruction, 
unless it can be done in the interests of the 
rebels, and the cry or "military despotism," 
"arbitrary power," "violation of the Constitu- 
tion," &c., are the means they employ for this 
end. I charge them with greatly exaggerating 
the expense of reconstruction and the Freed- 
men's Bureau, when the southern wing, aided 
by their Northern friends, created this expense 
and untold amounts besides by their rebellion. 
Having made these expenses and laid grievous 
burdens upon the people, they now have the 
effrontery to charge the Republicans with in- 
creasing the taxes. 

I contend that the practical results of the 
triumph of the elements of the Democratic 
party would be repudiation of the national 
aeoij or the payment of the rebel debt, as also 



indemnity for emancipated slaves, wliicli would 
produce repudiation. 

I charge the Democratic party with seeking 
to give undue political power to the rebel 
States by increasing their representation in 
Congress and their electoral votes for Presi- 
dent; by attempting to make one white rebel 
in South Carolina equal to three white loyal 
men in New Hampshire. Such will be the 
result if the reconstruction measures are de- 
fen ted, and the colored men not allowed to 
vote. The Constitution, as it now is, unless 
you admit that the amendment known as the 
fourteenth article has been ratified, bases repre- 
sentation in Congress upon free persons, and 
upon "three-fifths of all others." Slavery has 
ceased to exist, and now there are no ''others" 
than free persons; therefore, the States that had 
slavery, in fixing their share of power in the 
Government in the future, will count every 
negro, not as three-fifths of a man, but as a 
whole man, and then to vote for him as being 
iiufit to vote for himself. The Democrats de- 
mand that when these States are reconstructed 
on their plan, the vote of Wade Hampton, of 
South Carolina, shall have the power of the 
votes of Governor Harriman, Judge Perley, 



and John G. Sinclair, of New Hampshire, all 
put together. President Johnson makes this 
demand, and the Democrats insist upon it. 

The negro population in the ten disorganized 
States and Kentucky will give the rebels twenty- 
eight members of Congress and the same num- 
ber of electoral votes. The emancipation of 
the slaves, resulting from the rebellion, will 
give to eight of the worst rebel States nine 
additional membersof Congress, and take from 
the old free States thirteen members of Con- 
gress, and a like number of electoral votes, 
making a gain to the rebel States of twenty- 
two members. The old free States have now 
one hundred and fifty-eight members of the 
House, and the former slave States eighty-five. 
By a new apportionment, under the altered 
condition, the old free States will have one 
hundred and forty-five, and the former slave 
States ninety-four. I have prepared with great 
care am-l accuracy the following table, showing 
the population, white and colored, and the 
totals in each State in 18G0, the number, of 
representatives under the present apportioa- 
ment, and the number to be uiuler tke new, 
and the loss and gain in certain States. 



S^tates. 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

California 

Connecticut 

Helaware 

Florila 

(reoriiia 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Maspachusetis... 

Michif^an 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New Hampshire. 

New Jersey 

New York 

North Oarolina. 

Ohio 

(JreKon 

Pennsylvani i 

Iihod" Island... 
South Oar dina. 

T'ennesaee 

Tex^s 

^^erDnont 

Virg nlii 

* West Virgvni.i. 
Wisconsin 



White. 



526,431 
32H91 
Sill, 353 
4r>1.5'20 
90 5S9 
77.748 
591,588 
704,3^3 
339.U00 
(i73,S44 
10;i,579 
919.517 
357.02U 
C2ri.952 
515,918 
,221.401 
742,314 
171 8.4 
3.'i3.fl0i. 
,0J3,509 



325.579 
643,699 

1,831.7 
631,100 

;.302 838 
52 337 

l,S49,2uB 
170,Gr.8 
291.338 
82i;,782 
4il.29t 
314 389 
.017,411 



,71U 



Colored. 



437.770 
111,2 9 

4,08ii 

8,027 

21,027 

62,077 

4G5.098 

7,028 

11,428 

1 009 

625 

233,107 

350.373 

1,327 

171,131 

9,60'! 

6,709 

259 

427,404 

118,503 



494 

25.33i; 

49,005 

301 522 

3J,773 

128 

53,849 

■",9.32 

412320 

283 '-9 

182,921 

548.907 



Total. 



934,201 

435 4i0 

305.439 

400 147 

112,210 

140.425 

1,057,286 

1,711,955 

1,350,428 

074.9i3 

107.203 

1,155,(84 

71" 8,002 

028,279 

687,049 

1231,000 

749 113 

172,123 

79 '.305 

1,182,012 



326.073 
072 035 

3 8S0 735 
992.022 

2 319 511 
52,405 

2,900,115 
174,020 
703.708 

l',109 801 
4 215 
.315 098 

1,590,318 



1,171 



,5,SS1 



Present 

Eepresent- 

otion 



3 

4 

1 

1 

7 
14* 
11 

6* 

1 

9* 

5 

5 

6 
10 

6 

2* 

5 

9 

1 

1 

3 

5 
31 

7 
19* 

1 
24 

2» 

4 

8 

4 

3* 
11 



New 

AppoTtion- 

lueut. 



Gain. 



Loss. 



10 



The oiiijlual apportionmeut was one less to 
cacli of the States marked by a star, the whole 
nniuber bein-j: two huudred aud ihlrty-lhree, 
but tlie Irac-tious beiuj^ large, Congress, by law 
of March 4, 1802, iuercascd them one each. 

West Virginia has three Representatives, but 
as this State has been created out of Virginia 
since the census of 13C0 and the apportion- 
ment, and as its population was then included 
in Virginia, no account of it is made in this 
calculation. If it is allowed three Representa- 
tives under a new apportionment Virginia 
would propably have three less. 

This table shows that it requires only 48,56-4 
white inhabitants in South Carolina for a Rep- 
resentative, whereas it takes 103,537 in New 
Hampshire; that it takes only 58,983 in Mis- 
sissippi, but requires 124,450 in California ; 
that it takes only 59,005 in Louisiana, but re- 
quires 134, 708 in Iowa; and that it takes only 
74,948 of the same class in Georgia, but re- 
quires 133,129 in New York. lu South Caro- 
lina there was by the last census 291,388 whit° 
inhabitants, and in New Hampshire 335,579. 
But South Carolina had 413,330 colored people, 
who are not lit to vote, or hardly live, and she 
will have six Rep'-esentatives, while New 
Hampshire, with 35,000 more white inhab- 
itants, will have only two. I cannot see the 
equality here; but iJcrhaps South Carolina, in 
the estimation of the Senator from Wisconsin, 
has behaved so remarkably well during the 
past six year?, and cost us so little money and 
life, that she is entitled to this consideration 
and superiority. It may be that one man in 
that State, with all his treason, is equal to 
three in New Hampshire; but I think the peo- 
ple will fail to see it. 

We offered these States in the constitutional 
amendment the alternative to allow the ne- 
groes to vote or have the colored population 
taken from their representative basis. They 
would not do either, but, under the lead of Mr. 
Johnson and the Democratic party, rejected 
the proposition with scorn. They have the inso- 
lence, and the Democratic party say they are 
right, to claim a gain and advantage on ac- 
count of their treason. If the negroes can be 
allowed to vote, this matter will be all right, 
and they should have the increase; for it is 
then based on voters, and the loyal and liberty- 
loving blacks will in part, at least, neutralize 
the disloyal votes, and the members of Con- 
gress from that section will not be all rebel 
pympathizers. We bear much said about this 
being a "white man's Government." I am for 
equal rights for all; for "a government of the 
people, for tho people, and by the people." 
But if ivo are to have a white man's Govern- 
ment, I shall rao3t emphatically insist upon 



equality among white men. I am not for 

having white men in the rebel States, with 
black shadows by their sides, made equal to 
two or three good men in the other States. 

I charge the south wing of the Democratic 
party with being the priuM; movers in the rebel- 
lion, and the northern wing with giving them 
aid and comfort. I charge the Deiuoeratie 
party generally with having eausea the war, 
aud brought all the expense, snflering, woe, 
and death upon the country. I charge that 
every man who opposed the recruitment of our 
armies during the war, who denounced the 
draft, who encouraged desertions, and who in 
any way aided the rebellion, is now a supporter 
of the Democratic party aud opposed to loyal 
supremacy. I charge that all the fossils, who 
had no sympathy and no money for our own 
suffering soldiers, and whose bloodless hearts, 
during the long struggle for national existence, 
were never animated by one pulsation of love 
and commiseration for our imperilled country, 
are supporters of the Democratic party, and 
opposed to loyal reconstruction. I charge that 
all the rebels who tried to destroy the Repub- 
lic, who murdered our wounded soldiers on the 
battle-lield and starved our brave men in 
prison pens, who sought to poison the water 
we drank, who sought to introduce the germs 
of yellow- fever and pestilence among our people, 
and tried to burn peaceful and defenceless 
cities, are supporters of the Democratic party, 
and opposed to loyal reconstruction. 

Andrew Johnsou made a speech at Louis- 
ville, Ky., just prior to the last Presidential 
election, from which the following is an ex- 
tract: 

The p^eudo Democratic party is the rebel party of 
the Uiiiteil Stales, composed in major pare of the 
rebels anil lurking traitors ill our midst, who areas 
much ei)jr:iged in the attempted overthrow of tlie 
(xovernnii ut as the traitors under Jell'. Davis. The 
point olils leadci'ri and ruling ineiuliers is ijow^er; 
and tluir inteiilimi i^ to jrive aid ami comfort to Jell". 
J)avis ,t ('•).. and their armies, 'i'hey are llie aides 
and friends of deir. Uavis, givin^i; hi'ui all possible 
aid and idHii'urt in kveping up the rebellion, in re- 
sisting the supremacy of tiie Coustitittion and laws 
over lue entire United States. 

The once honored and patriotic Democratic 
party has fallen from its proud positiou. After 
abandoning the principles of Democracy and 
becoming the advocate and supporter of hu- 
man slavery, it took sides with traitors and 
sympathized with those who fought against 
the Republic. It now demands that rebels 
shall have all the rights of loyal citizens, aud 
be restored to place and power, and that loyal 
citizens shall be proscribed aud denied tho 
right of suffrage. 

This party, in its organized political action, 
is the inveterate foe of moral aud social pro- 
gress and elevatio:i. It seeks always to use 
the prejudices aud vices of men, but not to 



11 



cure them. It appeals to the appetites and 
the passions, because it can make them minis- 
ter to its advautage. [n its political action 
its impulses have been alien to the spirit of 
freedom. It sympathizes with the oppressors 
of the colored race rather than with the op- 
pressed. It has no voice for humanity, no 
hand to lift up the lowly and downtrodden. 

Governor Morton, now Senator, in an ad- 
dress, waruinij s-^^roas and ambitious young 
men not to couuect themselves with a dishon- 
ored party, indelibly stained with treason, 
said: 

The Democratic party has committcrl a crime for 
wliicli hifitorv lias no pardon and tlie memories of 
mcu no farsrctfiilueos, whose colorsgrow darker from 
age to ;>j;e, and for whicli the execrations of mau- 
kiiid become more bitter fi'om generation to genera- 
tion. 

The Kepubliean party carried the country 
triumphantly through the war brought upon it 
by wicked S«d ambitious traitors, and pre- 
served the Union and all its precious legacies 
handed down to us from oitr fathers. It was 
true to its obligations to country and to man- 
kind. It struck the fetters from the limbs and 
darkness and despondency from the souls of 
four million slaves and made sure their free- 
dom. No member of this party ever fired upon 
the flag of his country or murdered one of its 
defenders. Its principles are humane, demo- 
cratic, and God-like, and its record is glorious 
and immortal. It now demands that victory 
over treason shall be victory legalized and per- 
petuated; that loyalty shall be honored and 
loyal men protected; that slavery once abol- 
ished shall forever remain abolished; and that 
the freedmen shall be secured and protected in 
their civil rights and elevated into the full and 
consummate enjoyment of a Christian civiliza- 
tion. It demands that the burdens now rest- 



ing so heavily upon the people shall be light- 
ened and male equal, and that property of all 
kinds shall pay its just proportion of the taxes. 
The Republican party, sir, is the people's 
party. It is the hope of the country and the 
anchor of its freedom. It is the representa- 
tive of the true democratic sentiment of the 
country. It bears aloft the b:mnjr of liberty 
and pleads for those rights of human nature 
■which God has given to man. It swears by 
the Declaration of Independence and acknowl- 
edges the manhood of the whole human race. 
It teaches Ihe great Christian democratic doc- 
trine that "all things, whatsoever ye would 
that men should do unto you, do ye even so 
unto them." It knows no baseness, cowers at 
no danger, oppresses no weakness. Generous 
and humane, it rebukes the arrogant, cherishes 
honor, and sympathizes with the humble. It 
asks nothing but what it coucedes, and con- 
cedes nothing but what it demands. Destruc- 
tive only to despotism and treason, it is the 
sole conservator of liberty, labor, and prope* ty. 
It cherishes the sentiment of universal free- 
dom, of equal rights, and equal obligations. 
It sides with the weak and the down-trodden, 
and sympathizes with every effort to elevate 
the people and better their condition. A true 
Republican, while claiming an equality with 
the best, scorns any political immunities not 
accorded to the humblest of his fellows. The 
ark of our national salvation rests upon the 
shoulders of the men comjjosing this party. 
I pray that they may be patient and strong, 
bold and prudent, patriotic and just, devont 
and self-sacrificing, and resolute and mighty, 
that we may transmit to uncounted millions 
and unborn generations the blessings of free, 
democratic government. 



GRANT'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 



To General Joseph R. Hawlet, President Na- 
tional Union liejmblican Convention : 
In formally accepting the nomination of the 
National Union Republican Convention of the 
21st of May instant, it seems proper that some 
statement of views beyond the mere accept- 
ance of the nomination should be expressed. 
The proceedings of the Convention were 
marked with wipfiom, moderation, and patriot- 
ism, and I believe express the feelings of the 
great mass of those who sustained the country 
through its, recent trials. 

I endorse the resolutions. If elected to the- 
office of President of the United States it will 
be my endeavor to administer all the laws in 
good faith, with economy, and with the view 
of giving peace, quiet, and protection every- 
where. 



In times like the present it is impossible, or 
at least eminently improper, to lay down a 
policy to be adhered to, right or wrong, through 
an administration of four years. New politi- 
cal issues, not foreseen, are constantly arising: 
the views of the public on old ones are con- 
stantly changing, and a purely administrative 
officer should always be left free to execute the 
will of the people. I always have respected 
that will, and always shall. 

Peace and universal prosperity — its sequence 
— with economy of administration, will lighten 
the burden of taxation, while it constantly 
reduces the national debt. Let us have peace. 

With great respect, your obedient servant. 



U. S. Grant. 



Washixgton, May 39, 1868. 



Platform of the Republican Party. 



The following platform, reported by tbe 
Committee oa Resolutions, was unanimously 
adopted by ibe National Republican Conveu- 

lion at. Cbicago: 

First. We- cou'jratulate the country on tbe 
assured success of tlie recoustruclion policy 
of Congress, as evinced by the adoption, in a 
majoriiy of the States lately in rebellion, of 
constitutions securing? equal civil and political 
rights to all, and regard it as the duty of the 
Government to susiaii) ibO:^e constitutions and 
to prevent the people of such States from Vieing 
remitted to a state of anarchy or military rule. 

Second. The tjuarantee by Congress of equal 
snlTrajje lo all loyal men at the rtouth was ae- 
manded by every consideration of public safety, 
of gratitude, and of justice, and must he main- 
tained; while the question of sutlrage in all 
the loyal States properly belongs to the people 
of those States. 

Third. We denounce all forms of repudia- 
tion as a national crime; and national honor 
requires the payment of the public indebted- 
ness in the utmost good faith to all creditors 
-It home and abroad, not only aecordins; to the 
letter but the spirit of the laws under which it 
was contracted. 

Fourth. It is due to the labor of the nation 
that taxation should be equalized, and reduced 
as rapidly as the national faith will permit. 
■ FUth. The national debt, contracted as it 
bfs been for the preservation of the Union for 
'iil' time to come, should be extended over a 
f/iir period for redemption; and it is the duty 
of Conirress to reduce the rale of interest 
thereon whenever it can honestly be done. 

Sixth. That t^e best policy to diminish our 
burdeu of debt is to so improve our credit that 
capitalis'.s wi'l seek to loan us money at lower 
rates of interest than we now pay, and must 
continue to pay so lou? as repudiation, partial 
or total, opcu or covert, is threatened or sus- 
pected. 

Seventh. The Government of the United 
States liho.ild ;)e administered with the strictest 
ei;onoai\; and the corruptioas which have been 
so shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew 
Johnson call loudly for radical reform. 

Eighth. We profoundly deplore the untimely 
and tragic death of Abraham Lincoln, and 
regret the accession of Andre iv Johnson to the 
Presidency, who has acted treacherously to the 
people who elected him and the cause he was 
pledged to support; has usurped high legislative 
and Judicial functions; has refused to execute 
the laws; has used his high office to induce other 
otiicers to ignore and violate the laws; has 
employed his executive powers to render in- 
Becure the property, peace, liberty, and life 
of the citizen : has abused the pardoning 
power; has denounced the National Legisla- 
ture as unconstitutional; has persistently and 
corruptly resisted, by every means in his 
power, every proper attempt at the reconstruc- 



tion of the States lately in rebellion; has per- 
verted the public patronage into an engine o( 
wholesale corruption, and has been justly im- 
peached for high crimes and misdemeanors, 
and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the 
votes ot thuty-ljve Senators. 

Nmth. The doctrine ot Great Britain and 
other European powers, that because a man is 
once a sui'ject he is always so, must be re- 
sisted at every hazard by the United States as 
a relic of the feudal times, not authorized by 
the law of nations and at war with our national 
honor and independence. Naturalized citizens 
are entitled to be protected in all their rights of 
citizensbiyj as though they were native-born, 
and no citizen of the United States, native or 
naturalized, must be liable to arrest and im- 
prisonment by any foreign power for acts done 
or words spoken in this country. And if bo 
arrested and imprisoaed, it is tbe duty of the 
Government to interfere in his behalf. 

Tenth. Of all who were faithful in the 
trials of the late war there were none entitled 
to more especial honor than the brave soldiers 
and seamen who endured the hardships of 
campaign and cruise, and imperilled their 
lives in the service ot the country. The boun- 
ties and pensions provided by law for these 
brave defenders of the nation are obligations 
never to be forgotten. The widows and 
orphans of the gallant dead are the wards ot 
the people, a sacred legacy bequeathed to the 
nation's protecting care. 

Eleventh. Foreign emigration, which in the 
past has added so much to the wealth, de- 
velopment of resources, and increase of power 
to this nation, "the asylum of the oppressed of 
all nations," should be fostered and encour- 
aged by a liberal and just policy. 

Twelfth. This convention declares its sym- 
pathy with all the oppressed people who are 
Btruggling for their rights. 

On motion of General Carl Schurz, the fol- 
lowing additional resolutions were unani- 
mously adopted as part of the platform : 

Resolved, That we highly commend the spirit 
of magnanimity and forbearance with which 
the men who have served in the rebellion, but 
now frankly and honestly cooperate with us 
in restoring the peace of the country and re- 
constructing the Southern State governments 
upon the basis of impartial justice and equal 
rights, are received back into the communion 
of the loyal people; and we favor the removal 
of the disqualifications and restrictions im- 
posed upon the late rebels in the same mea- 
sure as the spirit of disloyalty will die out, and 
as may be consistent with the safety of the 
loyal people. 

Beaolvcd, That we recognize the great prin- 
ciples laid dowu in the immortal Declaration 
of Independence as the true foundation of 
democratic government, and we hail with 
gladness every effort toward making these 
principles a living reality on every inch of 
a.merican soil. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



013 744 537 2 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 744 537 2 f^ 



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